Melaleucoides beaufortiae, Schuh & C. Weirauch, 2010

Schuh, R. T. & C. Weirauch, 2010, Myrtaceae-Feeding Phylinae (Hemiptera: Miridae) From Australia: Description And Analysis Of Phylogenetic And Host Relationships For A Monophyletic Assemblage Of Three New Genera, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2010 (344), pp. 3-94 : 35-38

Melaleucoides beaufortiae , new species Figures 14, 15; map 3; plate 2

DIAGNOSIS: Unique among Melaleucoides spp. for the coalescent small dark spots on the dorsum (pl. 2), the compact body form, and the structure of the male genitalia, the left paramere with a moderately elongate, blunt, fingerlike, recurved, medial apical process, and the endosoma with some denticles on the postgonoporal region of the secondary strap but lacking both the dorsal and ventral processes frequently seen in the genus (fig. 15). Most easily confused with M. brevifoliae , M. leuropomae , and M. micranthae , but the spots never coalescent in those species and the apical medial process of the left paramere much less elongate and not recurved (figs. 16, 21, 22, respectively).

DESCRIPTION: Male: Body weakly elongate, weakly ovoid; mean total length 2.98, mean width pronotum 1.10. COLORATION (pl. 2): Head: Pale, clypeus dark and large, dark, linear, bilateral markings on frons; scapus pale with a dark base; pedicellus dirty yellow proximally, weakly to heavily infuscate distally; labium generally infuscate, heavily so apically. Thorax: Pronotum pale with brown spots of varying size; scutellum pale with brown spots; hemelytron unicolorous pale with brown spots of varying size, some coalescent; markings on cuneus present as a red to castaneous apex; membrane weakly fumose, veins pale; hind femur with many brown or black spots; hind tibial spines dark with conspicuous dark spots at bases. Abdomen: Venter unicolorous pale or mostly so. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsum with suberect or reclining black setae, without sericeous or woolly setae. STRUC- TURE: Head (fig. 14A): Somewhat projecting; interocular space moderate; eyes leaving gena broadly exposed in lateral view. Antenna: Segment 2 weakly tapering, more slender at base; antennal fossa with dorsal margin somewhat below ventral margin of eye. Labium: Reaching to about anterior margin of pygophore. Thorax: Pretarsus (fig. 14B): Pulvilli present, flaplike, covering about one third of ventral claw surface. GENITALIA (fig. 14C, D, 15): Endosoma: Primary strap apically greatly elongate, curving dorsally near apex, without ornamentation; secondary endosomal strap fused with primary strap proximal to secondary gonopore, reaching well beyond gonopore, ornamented with short denticles just distad of gonopore; spinelike, elongate process arising near gonopore on dorsal surface absent; spinelike, elongate process near gonopore on ventral surface absent; bladderlike process distad of secondary gonopore absent; secondary gonopore seen frontally (facing up) in lateral view of endosoma. Phallotheca: Nearly erect; apex simple. Left Paramere: Shaft at right angles to body; body spoon shaped; apex medially drawn into a blunt, recurved, fingerlike process; anterior process triangular in lateral view; posterior process in the form of a short curved fingerlike projection; base of posterior process without conspicuous shoulder. Right Paramere: Body short and broad, lanceolate; apex short, clawlike, decurved.

Female: Slightly more ovoid than male; mean total length 3.06, mean width pronotum 1.13. COLORATION (pl. 2): As in male. GENITALIA: Posterior wall laterally with distinct crescent-shaped interramal sclerites; posteriorly without a sclerotized transverse band; posterolaterally with a distinct swelling covered with microtrichia; longitudinal fold on either side of midline along part of length; posterior margin of posterior wall without spicules, and not reflexed dorsally; interramal lobes present and asymmetrical, reclining, overlapping, and heavily ornamented with spicules; vestibulum with medial plates sclerotized and readily observed, small, nearly symmetrical, triangular; with sclerotized guide present as short heavily sclerotized tube on left side.

ETYMOLOGY: Named for the host genus, Beaufortia R. Br. (Myrtaceae) .

HOSTS: Beaufortia micrantha Schauer (Myrtaceae) .

DISTRIBUTION (map 3): Known from one locality in Fitzgerald River National Park in Southwestern Australia.

HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: Fitzgerald River National Park, Hammersley Road, 33.81038uS 119.787uE, 215 m, 06 Dec 1997, Schuh, Cassis, Brailovsky, Asquith, Beaufortia micrantha Schauer (Myrtaceae) , det. Perth 05055482, 1 - (AMNH_ PBI 00371069) ( WAMP).

PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Western Australia: Fitzgerald River National Park, Hammersley Road, 33.81038uS 119.787uE, 215 m, 06 Dec 1997, Schuh, Cassis, Brailovsky, Asquith, Beaufortia micrantha Schauer (Myrtaceae) , det. Perth 05055482, 10 - (00371063, 00371065–00371068, 00371072–00371075, 00- 371077), 5 U (00371082, 00371084–00371085, 00371087, 00371095) ( AM), 7 - (00087473, 00371064, 00371070–00371071, 00371076, 00371078–00371079), 6 U (00371083, 00371086, 00371088–00371089, 00371094, 00371097) ( AMNH), 1 - (00371080), 1 U (00371098) ( UNSW), 3 - (00087247–00087248, 00371081), 4 U (00371090, 00371092–00371093, 00371096) ( WAMP).

OTHER SPECIMENS EXAMINED: AUSTRA- LIA: Western Australia: Fitzgerald River National Park, Hammersley Road, 33.81038uS 119.787uE, 215 m, 06 Dec 1997, Schuh, Cassis, Brailovsky, Asquith, Beaufortia micrantha Schauer (Myrtaceae) , det. Perth 05055482, 1 nymph (00371091) (AM).